In 1775, American colonists sent King George III one last plea for peace. He refused to even read it — and sealed the fate of his empire.
On July 5, 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition — a final, earnest appeal asking King George III to intervene with Parliament and protect colonial rights. It was the last serious attempt to avoid a full break with Britain.
John Dickinson, the petition's main author, was a conservative Pennsylvania delegate who genuinely believed reconciliation was possible. He convinced Congress to try one more time, even as cannon fire from Bunker Hill still echoed less than a month old.
The petition never had a chance. John Adams had written a letter — intercepted by the British — declaring war inevitable. That letter arrived in London alongside the petition, poisoning any goodwill it might have found.
King George III refused to receive the petition formally or even acknowledge it. Instead, he issued the Proclamation of Rebellion on August 23, 1775 — declaring the colonies in open revolt and ordering his subjects to report traitors.
The rejection was a gift to the independence movement. Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and others had argued all along that the King would never protect colonists from Parliament. The snubbed petition proved them right and stripped the moderates of their best argument.
Within a year, the Continental Congress had published the Declaration of Independence. The Olive Branch Petition — still housed in the National Archives in London — stands as the last document the United States ever submitted to a British king.